India's Prime Minister says that its Maoist insurgency is the single biggest threat to India's security. He goes on to say India is losing the battle against these rebels (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8266550.stm). This implies that the Maoist insurgents of India are a bigger threat to India than neighboring countries such as China and Pakistan and islamist insurgents including those in Kashmir.
I recall reading an article by one Ashok Mehta many, many years ago (on India) which to the best of my recollection went something like this:
"This is the land of the ultimate proletariat of the world. Unless this proletariat is rehabilitated there will be an explosion for this proletariat will not agree to remain submerged, subjugated and suffocated. If this explosion is to be avoided, denied, then I think the best amongst us will have to kneel to raise and stoop to conquer."
When Ashok Mehta wrote this decades ago there was no explosion of the proletariat. There were Maoists and Naxalites and communist governments in some states but no explosion of the proletariat. Why?
Unlike the proletariat of China, Russia and other countries around the world that have had a communist revolution the majority of the Indian proletariat are Hindu with a deep belief (at that time) in Karma. On karma Sri Tulsidas a great Hindu saint said: "Our destiny was shaped long before the body came into being." Because they believed their destiny was shaped before they were born and without an education to understand karma in its fullest the indian proletariat rejected any change to the life style and the conditions they were born into. They were illiterate, ignorant of the world beyond their village, powerless, poor and unable to do anything other than accept their destiny.
Since then the various governments of India have done a lot to educate the proletariat and have succeeded to a certain extent. This proletariat now has some education so they are not illiterate. They have radios and television sets in their villages even if they don't own them personally so they know what is going on around the world in other states and countries. This access to education and information has given them enough to break out of the thinking that their destiny is not in their own hands but was shaped before they were born. In abandoning their "karma" they also abandon their hindu religion converting to other religions that do not believe in karma or abandon religion altogether converting to communism and becoming naxalites so they can fight their way out of their current world to a new equitable world.
The various governments India has had have also helped the country make great strides in science and technology. India's advance in Information Technology makes it one of the world's biggest players in that area. India has also developed a sophisticated space program. Recently India launched 7 satellites in a single space mission emerging as a major player in the multi-billion dollar space market. These advances bring fortunes to the "haves" but very little trickles down to the "have nots", the proletariat.
This proletariat that is now literate, knowledgeable, largely denied of the benefits of the technological revolution, in the words of Ashok Mehta "will not agree to remain submerged, subjugated and suffocated." We are now witnessing the explosion Ashok Mehta spoke of.
If India is to avoid this explosion, then the best amongst Indians regardless of religion or caste, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Gujarat to Nagaland, will have to stoop to raise and kneel to conquer the hearts and minds of the millions of downtrodden brotheren ensuring they have a fair share in the resources and fortunes of the country.
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